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The University of Utah Athletics
Ute Football Team Opens Spring Drills On Mar. 11
3/7/2008 12:00 AM | Football
March 7, 2008
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SPRING FOOTBALL CAMP OPENS
Utah's spring football camp kicks off on Tuesday, Mar. 11 and will be split into two sessions, divided by spring break. The Utes will practice on Mar. 11 and 13 from 3:00-5:00 p.m. at the McCarthey Practice Fields, then break for a week's vacation from school and football starting Mar. 17. Camp resumes on Mar. 25 and will conclude with the annual Red-White game on Saturday, April 19. Including scrimmages, the team will practice the NCAA-allowable 15 times. Spring practices, scrimmages and the Red-White game are open to the public.RED-WHITE SPRING GAME
The sixth-annual Red-White game will be held in Rice-Eccles Stadium on Saturday, April 19 starting at 1 p.m. It is free to the public and the players will sign autographs after the game.GETTING PERSONNEL
Utah returns most of its personnel from the 2007 Poinsettia Bowl champion team. A total of 55 lettermen are back, including 16 starters (8 on offense, 6 on defense, the punter and the place kicker) ... Back for his final college spring camp is Louie Sakoda, a 2007 first-team All-America punter by the Football Writers Association of America and CBSSports.com. Sakoda, who also won several All-America accolades as a place kicker, is Utah's only returning first-team all-conference player (as a punter; he was a second team kicker) and a two-time Mountain West Conference Special Teams Player of the Year ... On offense, the Utes return second-team all-conference players at quarterback (Brian Johnson, 2005), running back (Darrell Mack), offensive line (Robert Conley, Zane Beadles) and wide receiver (Brent Casteel, 2006) ... The six starters returning for the defense include second-team all-league cornerback Brice McCain.UTE NOTES
The first three days of practice are designated as no-tackle sessions and the focus will be on installing the offensive and defensive packages. Tackling begins on Mar. 27, the second day after camp resumes ... Cleared to participate in spring ball after missing virtually all of last season due to injuries are senior wide receiver Brent Casteel (knee) and junior running back Matt Asiata (leg) ... Starting quarterback Brian Johnson had surgery to clean out the joint at the end of his collar bone on Feb. 7, which is expected to put the finishing touches on his recovery from a shoulder injury suffered in last year's season opener. Johnson returned to the starting lineup in game five and led Utah to eight wins in its last nine games ... The coaches will use the spring drills to get a good look at three young quarterbacks: 2007 freshman backup Corbin Louks, redshirt sophomore Chad Manis and incoming freshman DeVonte Christopher. Christopher joined the team on Feb. 25 ... Members of the 2007 signing class whose NCAA clock did not start until they enrolled in school this semester are juco defensive back Damilyn Tanner and freshman defensive back Reggie Topps ... Expected to participate in spring camp are defensive linemen Greg Newman and Paul Kruger, although Kruger's action could be limited. The two were stabbed by unidentified assailants on Jan. 19 ... Koa Misi, who started at tackle last fall, has moved to end ... Both tackle positions will feature new starters. Entering spring camp, the starters are sophomores Lei Talamaivao and Isley Filiaga. Filiaga, a transfer from Brigham Young, redshirted his first year on the U. campus ... Earning scholarships in January were defensive back RJ Rice and linebacker Mike Wright. Wright is slated to start at middle linebacker.HEAD COACH Kyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham has a 24-14 overall record and three bowl wins in his first three years as Utah's head coach. He is overseeing the nation's second-longest current postseason win streak: Utah is 7-0 in bowl games since 1999 - including five straight victories from 2003-2007 - and he has participated in every one of those as either a head or assistant coach. In 114 years of Utah football, only Whittingham has made it to a bowl game in each of his first three seasons as the head coach. Including 11 years as an assistant coach (the final 10 as the defensive coordinator), Whittingham has participated in more wins than anyone in Utah football history. Since he joined the staff as the defensive line coach in 1994, the program has won 67-percent of its games - compiling a 110-55 record (24-14 as the head coach) - played in nine bowl games (winning eight), captured four conference titles and finished in the Top-10 twice. He was the defensive coordinator in 2004, when Utah became the first non-BCS affiliated team to play in a BCS bowl game, and finished with a 12-0 record and a No. 4 national ranking. Whittingham served as the co-head coach in that historic game - helping Utah beat Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl.
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